Paper Crane
by selfishghosts
Summary: Harry receives a letter, and it leaves him guessing as to who sent it and why. HxD Slash.
1. Chapter 1

It was a particularly warm afternoon in September, he had just started his 7th year at Hogwarts and Harry already had homework piling up. He was sitting against a big tree that cast shadows on him and his two friends who were sitting cuddled up together. Harry tried to concentrate on the Transfiguration essay he was trying to write, he chewed on his quill, deep in thought. Ron and Hermione murmured nice things to each other and Harry sighed as he put his parchment, inkwell, and quill in his bag. Harry took off his jumper, adjusted his position so that he was lying down on the grass, and placed his folded jumper under his head. Harry glanced at the viridian hue colored leaves that concealed most of the bright blue sky then closed his eyes and relaxed, for a while that is. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep he felt something very light land on top of his chest. He sat up and blinked rapidly, he picked up what appeared to be a piece of parchment folded to be a little bird, a little crane to be exact. Harry turned to his friends, and they looked back at him, both parties puzzled. Harry started unfolding the crane, being careful as to not rip the fragile paper. The beautifully curved, elegant handwriting read:

"Harry Potter,

I really do not know why I am writing this. At the time I knew exactly what to write this seemed like a good idea, but now what I am actually writing this, it seems really stupid. Ugh. You are beautiful, I admire everything about you. I admire you from your messy black hair and sparkling green eyes to how you wear such ugly glasses and the weird scar on your forehead. I love the way you call the nest-looking mess on top of your head a hairstyle, and I admire the way your forest-green eyes sparkle, gleam, or light up and look like the two of the finest emeralds in the world. I absolutely love the way you're so clumsy and can't manage potions at all. How graceful you are when riding your broom is extraordinary, you are the pure definition of grace and beauty. Excuse my strange rambling, Harry.

Thank you for reading,

Anonymous."

Harry looked up at his two friends as he finished reading the letter. "So," Ron said stretching the o, "What was it about? Who was it from? Was it more fan mail? Ugh, didn't you cast a charm that didn't allow any sort of cursed or enchanted letters near you?" he bombarded Harry with more questions but Harry didn't pay any attention to Ron, he was deep in thought. This didn't seem like the regular fan mail, he could tell that from the fact that Potter was scribbled out and instead there stood his first name. Now he had a hint, it was definitely a Slytherin who wrote that, since Slytherins were the only people who called him by his last name. Harry felt someone poke his side with something sharp and immediately snapped back into reality, Ron was poking Harry's side with his wand. "Huh? Oh! Right, yeah I placed the charm, yeah this is definitely fan mail. Whatever, it's just the usual stuff." Harry lied and put the letter in his bag, he was curious as to who wrote it. Ron shrugged and went back to talking to Hermione about what a good team the Chudley Cannons are. Harry stood up, stretched, picked up his jumper and bag and announced that he was going back to the Gryffindor common room.

Harry was in one of those lazy moods where you don't feel like doing anything since it's a warm, calm day. Harry walked across the beautiful permanent green light colored grounds of the Hogwarts fields, he saw a few kids playing around at the Quidditch pitch and became interested, so he turned and went there. The tiny, blurry, flying people became defined and he could recognize some of themas he went closer. First, there were Dean and Seamus flying right next to each other, holding hands as per usual, then there was Neville, which wasn't exactly usual, Harry assumed he was just trying to catch sight of any strange or rare plant. There were a few 3rd, 4th and 5th years from all houses that Harry didn't recognize, and there were loads of small groups of friends sitting on the stands and either just sitting out and enjoying the sun or the groups were made up of study buddies who helped each other with assignments or just studying. Then there was Malfoy and his two best friends, Zabini and Parkinson. Draco Malfoy, he looked particularly beautiful to Harry today. The sleeves of his tight-fitting, white shirt were rolled up to his elbows exposing his snow white forearms, his platinum hair gave off a pearlescent golden shine, and his smirk looked rather pleasant today as he displayed it to his two friends after saying something.

Harry walked into the pitch and sat in the shaded corner of the stands, he just watched people fly around the pitch until he caught a certain blonde's attention. The beautiful, blonde locks whipped about his face as he descended on his broom to the spot in stands where Harry was sitting, he flew past Harry quickly, managing to snatch Harry's glasses. Harry heard Malfoy and his friends snickering, he rolled his eyes. "Ha ha, very funny, Malfoy" Harry remarked sarcastically, "Your joke is funny, now, please give me back my god damn glasses." He heard a soft swoosh and felt his glasses drop onto his lap "Now, if you would mind," said Harry "Sod off, Malfoy. I was having a nice afternoon before you showed up." Parkinson and Zabini appeared in front of him in fractions of a second "But that wouldn't be any fun at all, now would it?" said Zabini and gave Harry a crooked smirk and shot a cold yet playful look at him. "Yeah, letting you go and enjoy your day wouldn't be any fun at all for us," Parkinson backed him up with an evil glint in her dark eyes. Harry glared at both Zabini and Parkinson and then he felt his bag be lifted, but he however, did not react fast enough in order to stop Malfoy from stealing it and then flying out of Harry's reach. Harry sighed in frustration and muttered "I bloody hate you three," then Harry stood up and walked to the broom closet. Soon enough the three Slytherins got bored of playing throw and catch with Harry's bag so they sneakily put it on top of the Hufflepuff watchtower.

When Harry finally felt solid ground once again it was already almost dinner time and he was extremely sweaty with his jet black locks of wavy hair sticking to his face, forehead, and scalp. Harry breathed very heavy trying to catch his breath as he walked to the broom closet to put away his broom. Harry sighed as he opened the broom closet's door and then his heart sank to his heels, there was a cloaked figure standing in the closet. Harry felt two strong arms on either one of his shoulders and yelped in surprise and fear, the cloaked figure leaped at him and he screamed and fell backwards with a loud thump as he hit the ground. Soon enough the three Slyhterins were laughing and high fiving each other, all three then walked away. Harry stood up, put away his broom, and started going back to the Gryffindor dorms.

When Harry got to the Gryffindor dorms he muttered the password, climbed the steps up to the boys' dormitories, dropped his bag not caring that most of its contents spilled out, and collapsed on his bed.

After a while of lying down he decided he would take a quick shower before going to the Great Hall, seeing as dinner was in about 20 minutes. Harry walked into the bathroom and shooed out Dean who was frantically fixing and refixing his hair with a quick "You've been dating Dean for three years, I honestly don't think he cares, Seamus." Harry locked the door and took off his clothes, simply dropping them on the floor. Harry stepped into the warm stream of water and forgot about everyone and everything for a while as the water increased temperature, and the now-hot droplets of water streamed down his body. Harry stepped out of the shower and wiped the steaminess off his glasses as he put them on. Harry slicked his hair back, dried himself off with a towel, and wrapped it around his waist as he headed back to the dormitory. Harry got dressed and knew by the empty dorms that it was already dinner time. He walked through the empty, cold castle and felt lonely for a moment, just then he walked right into someone. "Watch where you're going, Potter" hissed Malfoy as he rubbed his shoulder. "Sorry," Harry muttered distantly and continued thinking of how his existence did not matter that much. "Potter, are you in your right mind? Did Pansy scare you to insanity? Was my shoulder too harsh on your small, mushy brain?" Draco said both surprised and sarcastic, Harry instantly snapped back to reality. "Sod off Malfoy," Harry snapped, "I was thinking of something else," but Draco was already disappearing behind the doors of the Great Hall with a scoff and what sounded like "Bloody Potter".

Harry stood outside the doors for a moment and processed what happened, he had just walked into Draco Malfoy. He pondered whether that was a good thing or not, at least he didn't punch Harry for walking into him, so that was a start. Harry dismissed those thoughts and walked into the Great Hall. His ears immediately filled with loud, animated chatter, his nose filled with the smell of food, and his eyes were pained by the bright lights. He walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Ron and Hermione, they both stared at him with puzzled looks, a few other people shot a few quizzical looks at him, but he ignored all and loaded food onto his plate. All three ate in silence, until Harry heard Ron yelp and Hermione clear her throat. "So, Harry, mate, where were you all day?" Ron said awkwardly, "Did a fan kidnap you or something? Haha, Hermione and I couldn't find you anywhere." Harry heard the subtle worry in his tone under those jokes, "Nothing really eventful, just the silver trio over there," he nodded his head towards the slytherin table and he swore he saw Draco look at him for a brief fraction of a second, "took my bag and played throw and catch with it, then they made me chase them for it and then they hid it on the hufflepuff watchtower." He sighed and looked at the Slytherin table with a sad expression on his face, and he felt the other's grey eyes burn into his green ones, Harry looked down at the table and broke eye contact. Neither one of the three said any words after that.

After dinnertime had ended, they went back to the Gryffindor Common Room, Hermione read books and studied, Ron challenged a bunch of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years to games of chess, and Harry sat on the armchair and stared into the fire. Soon enough Harry got tired of people trying to talk to him or asking him if he's ok so he just went up to the boys' dorm. There he was greeted by the contents of his bag spilled out on the floor and the letter from earlier that day which he had completely forgotten about. He read it over and over again, and realized that this letter was different from his regular fan mail. This letter focused more on how beautiful and graceful, while regular mail focused more on how 'hot' he was and on his fame. He sighed and lied down on his bed, he took off his grasses and thought about who could've sent him the letter, and about how tomorrow was a Monday and he had classes. Harry eventually dozed off, still in his school clothes.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry groaned as Ron woke him up the next morning, he had an awful headache. "Harry, come on," Ron said urgently, "We're going to be late for breakfast if you don't get your arse up right now!" Harry sighed and sat up putting on his glasses. Dean and Seamus were already getting everything they needed for the day, Harry blinked rapidly to blink away his sleepiness. "I guess I won't have time to even brush my teeth," he mumbled to himself and began putting all the books he would need that day in his bag, along with parchment, inkwells, and a few quills. A few minutes after everyone left the Gryffindor dorms Harry finally got ready, he rushed out, but only after making sure he had everything and his hair looked acceptable, most of all he made sure he had his wand. It was a sunny morning, Harry noticed that only when he walked through the caste to the Great Hall and saw the bright light filtering through the big windows. There were a few students like himself who were running a little late, it made him feel less alone in the world, he sighed and stopped for a moment. Draco Malfoy was walking towards the hallway where Harry was, Malfoy was not carrying himself in the usual aristocratic, and confident manner. Instead he walked in a rather not-so-royal manner, his back and shoulders caving in and hunched over. His head hung low and his face wore a tired and rather upset expression. Malfoy looked up as if he sensed Harry staring at him and his facial expression turned into a scowl and his pose straightened immediately, he was now close enough for Harry to hear him hiss "What are you looking at, Potter?" Harry blinked and stepped back towards the doors of the great hall. Malfoy shot him a venomous glare, and Harry's stomach dropped. He immediately turned around and rushed into the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table, and next to his best friends.

Both Ron and Hermione muttered "Good morning" as he sat down. Harry's attention immediately went to the Slytherin table, he saw Malfoy carrying himself in the hunched over manner again. Harry observed that as soon as he reached the Slytherin table he gave both Pansy and Blaise a very quick hug to each one, and gave Crabbe and Goyle respective nods to which they responded by nodding back. Harry felt a pang of jealousy towards Malfoy's friends, he did not exactly know why, he thought he hated the Slytherin git. Harry turned to Neville who engulfed him into a long conversation about this new species of plant he was studying and researching, Harry ate his breakfast quietly and for once paid attention to what Neville was saying. Apparently the plant was an active ingredient in Amorteria. The plant was a tall, lean plant with tons of small leaves that grouped in bunches which formed heart-like shapes. The plant didn't exactly change anything to the taker of the potion, but it was the ingredient that gave the potion the smell which you love most. To some he potion smelled like roses, to some it smelled like the person they fancied, and to some it smelled like nothing because they did not love anything enough for the plant or potion to smell like anything. Thinking about the strange plant got Harry's mind off of a certain blonde who was staring at him curiously across the big room. Soon enough, breakfast was over and the students were dismissed to their classes.

"Aye, don't you love having double potions first thing in the morning on Mondays, mate?" Ron said as he chuckled and nudged Harry, "Especially with Malfoy in that class, eh?" Ron continued his joke. Harry sighed, fixed his glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Eventually, Ron and Hermione went to Herbology, which they had with Parkinson and Crabbe, and Harry went to potions, which he had with Malfoy and Zabini. When Harry arrived to the classroom he situated himself in the back right corner table which was empty. The class filled up with students, the buzz of their chatter hung in the air and all the noise was giving Harry a headache. He massaged his temples and closed his eyes, sighing. He heard two people rush in and his eyes snapped open. The two boys who has rushed in were Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott. Malfoy's tie was crooked, his hair messed up, and his lips were bright red and his bottom lip was swollen. Nott's shirt was unbuttoned exposing a very sharp and defined collarbone, his tie and trousers were undone. Both boys were breathing heavily, Malfoy approached Harry with a sneer, "Excuse me, Potter, but would you mind bloody moving?" he said in an annoyed tone as he fixed his hair and straightened his tie, "Look, there's a spot open next to Theo, I need to speak to Blaise about a quite important matter." He sounded very imperial and frightening, but Harry did not move. "If by 'important matters' you mean your quick shag with Nott," he smirked, "Then I assume you should talk about how rubbish he was at satisfying your sexual needs in a limited amount of time when he isn't sitting about 3 meters away from you," he remarked, the smirk still on his face. All too soon, the smirk was wiped off his face with a slap and his feeling of triumph was replaced by the feeling of stinging pain in his left cheek.

Severus Snape walked into the classroom, his black robes flowing behind him as he walked like a cascade of darkness would flow behind a ghostly warrior galloping through the night. He walked to the front of the classroom and cleared his throats, all eyes shot to him. "Excuse me, Mister Malfoy," he cocked an eyebrow, "but what did your father teach you about hitting girls?" He sighed as the class erupted into loud laughter, "Five points from Slytherin. Now, Malfoy, sit down. Everyone else, open the book to page 678, we will be brewing and testing the 'Hair color changing potion. Read the instructions and go get your ingredients," he sat down and watched students do as they were told to. Malfoy stood up and got everything they needed. Harry sighed and obeyed Malfoy's instructions as to what to do and how to cut and slice the ingredients. As soon as all the ingredients were ready Malfoy started adding them to the cauldron in order, stirring for as long and in the direction that the instructions stated. Most of the ingredients were added and the potion did not require any stirring, but instead, it needed exactly 78 seconds of being left alone. Harry looked at Malfoy who was engrossed in reading what they needed to do after, Harry rolled his eyes and yawned. He then saw a dark figure standing in front of him, "Mister Potter, if you have time to yawn," he looked down at the potion which was starting t turn a pale blue, "Perhaps you could tell me what ingredient you're supposed to add next to the potion as soon as it turns blue, as instructed," Snape said carrying a slight amused tone. Harry panicked, he did not read anything at all, and he just trusted Malfoy to give him the right instructions. Just then, Harry felt warm, slender fingers shove something into his hands. Harry looked at it, it was a scribble on a small piece of parchment that said 'Chameleon scales'. "Chameleon," he hesitated for a moment, "Scales?" Snape looked surprised and disappointed, "Very well Potter, continue," he said in a cold tone and walked away to Nott's table. Harry shoved the note in one of the pockets of his robes. "Thank you," Harry said softly turning to face Malfoy, who was trying to appear completely calm. "I'm sorry," Malfoy looked terrified, "For the nasty Nott comment earli-" he was cut off by Malfoy pushing his aside and making Harry practically fall off his chair. Malfoy hurriedly picked up the chameleon scales and threw them into the cauldron. "Bloody merlin Harry," he was bubbling with rage, "I don't care about your god damn nasty comments to me anymore. You being a stupid twat and a bumbling mess almost cost us an exploded and ruined potion," he hissed quietly, making sure Snape didn't hear him, and then sighed and put his face in his hands. Harry didn't care about anything Malfoy had just said, he had called Harry by his first name, and he was astonished at that. Harry felt color rise to his face and quickly turned away and took the book from Malfoy, aggressively reading what needed to be done next.

Their potion was finished before anyone's, Malfoy and whoever worked with him were usually done first. Neither Malfoy nor Harry had said anything to the other since the strange incident. Snape walked over to their table and looked down at the potion, judging it. He nodded and walked away with a slight "Hmph". "What are you waiting for?" Malfoy looked at him questioningly "Try it. I mean, I'm sure the potion is a success, but let's not eliminate the chance of failure," he said and poured some of the potion into a flask. Harry took the flask from Malfoy's pale hand, and he felt the warm hand again, just this ime he jerked his hand back. Harry hadn't expected for Malfoy's hands to be actually warm. Harry's seeker reflexes kicked in and he quickly caught the flask before it shattered on the cold, stone floor. He drank the foul smelling potion, the taste of it was somewhere between raspberries and dirty socks. He gagged but swallowed the liquid anyway. He put down the flask but didn't feel any different, he heart Malfoy snickering. "Look at yourself Potter," he said as he proceeded to pull out a small compact mirror from his robes, "You look ridiculous," he sneered and then continued snickering. Indeed, as soon as Harry opened the mirror and glanced at himself, he now had hot pink hair. At the moment, Harry did not question why Malfoy carried around a compact mirror, which would be something to think about later. Malfoy's little snickers soon grew into a light laugh, he covered his mouth subconsciously, and Harry believe it was because Malfoy didn't want Harry to see his real smile. Harry wasn't wrong. Some color spread through Malfoy's pale cheeks, and he was now laughing so hard at Harry that the laughter turned into tight breaths. Harry felt bright color spread through his face. He closed Malfoy's mirror and put it in his own robe pocket. As soon as Malfoy recovered from his little hysteria over Harry's hot pink hair, he fixed his posture and cleared his throat. Snape glanced over to the "Potter and Malfoy" table, and nodded, which meant they were allowed to clean up and put things away since they succeeded. Everything was clean and ready for the next class. Snape assigned the class to do a 1 meter long potions essay on how the ingredients affected the potion, which earned quite a few groans and loud sighs from students all cross the room.

As soon as potions ended Harry rushed to his next class, which he fortunately had with Ron and Hermione, Charms. His two friends were already in the classroom when Harry arrived. Ron burst out roaring with laughter and Hermione looked concerned. "Harry!" Hermione rushed over worriedly, "What happened to your hair?" Harry sighed and fixed his glasses, like he usually did when either embarrassed or frustrated. "One word," he sighed, "Potions" Ron continued roaring with laughter. They sat down in their seats as Flitwick walked in, Ron still trying to muffle his laughter while Hermione smacked his arm and sighed. Harry half paid attention to what Flitwick was saying, and was half thinking about the events in his previous class. He didn't quite know how he felt about Malfoy shagging Nott. Harry had mixed feelings about it, he didn't know why, he didn't like Malfoy. It wasn't any of his business who the slytherin shagged or fancied, but at the same time, Harry felt like it was. He didn't know why he felt overly possessive of Malfoy, he didn't care before, why did he suddenly start caring now? He sighed, shook his head, tried to clear his mind of the git and pay attention to the lesson. It wasn't anything interesting, the lesson just consisted of Flitwick talking about how important it was to pass the N.E.W.T.s and about which spells they'd need to know about and be able to perform for their next exam, which was in a week. He had Hermione's undivided attention, Ron and most of the class snoozing or not paying attention, and Harry and a few other students trying to absorb the information but their minds drifting to what other people were doing rather than what the professor was talking about. Harry occupied himself for the next hour or so in attempts to duplicate Malfoy's writing. Harry soon checked himself in the compact mirror and his hair was back to its normal jet-black color. He did not succeed agt duplicating Malfoy's writing but Flitwick was now telling them class was over.

It was already lunchtime, and Harry didn't know how time had passed that fast. "Hey, 'mione, could I talk to you for a moment?" he glanced uncomfortably at Ron, "Alone" and Ron started distancing himself with a grunt. "Is there a spell to track a person from a letter?" he slowed his pace a little bit, so did Hermione, "You would know, Is there a spell to track a person from a letter?" he slowed his pace a little bit, so did Hermione, "You would know, you're an extremely intelligent witch," Hermione laughed at him a little bit. "There is no such spell or charm, you'll just have to use that brain of yours and figure stuff out for yourself," she sighed contemptibly, "But I'm sure I could help you, wat do you say?" Harry thought about the pros and cons of accepting, the cons outweighed the pros by a lot. "No thanks, but thank you for the offer," he said, grateful to have such a kind friend.

Lunch had been uneventful, so Harry left early to go to the library to study and to start that potions essay he was dreading. Harry had never been good at potions, and everybody knew that. When Harry arrived to the library and looked out one of the huge windows, he noticed that the sunny morning had turned into a cloudy afternoon. He put his bag down and sat down with a sigh. He took out ink, a quill, parchment, and his potions textbook. He read the description of the potions thoroughly and the ingredients as well, then began writing. Harry had to fetch some extra books on potions, some books on plants, and a few on creatures. He was halfway through, but he was stuck on a certain ingredient, chameleon scales. He knew that chameleons changed color, but couldn't tie it to how the potion changed your physical aspects. He put his head in his arms on the table and let out a long sigh. He couldn't do this himself, he'd ask Hermione for help later. Besides, the light pitter patter of the rain that had started a while ago was now distracting him. Harry fixed his potion so that he was leaning his head on his hand, and looked at the window. The droplets hit the glass and then slid down leaving a thin, wet trail of tiny droplets behind. The dark grey clouds reminded Harry of a certain blonde's eyes when he was angry. Harry didn't know why he thought of Malfoy's eyes when he saw the stormy clouds, it worried him. He sighed and let his mind drift.

"It's because since chameleon scales contain certain chemicals that allow them to change color quickly," a familiar voice said from behind him, "They affect the potion by releasing the substance, therefore allowing the quick color change," finished the voice. Harry slowly turned around, Malfoy stood towering over him from behind, looking down at his essay. "Sod off, Malfoy, I was doing just fine without your help," Harry said crossing his arms with a huff. That trademark sneer appeared on his face again "Which is probably why there is a huge inkblot on the 'is' in 'the way chameleon scales affect the potion is'," Malfoy leaned over Harry's shoulder and tapped the spot with his pale finger. Harry murmured a quick thanks and resumed writing his essay. He soon finished and left the library. He headed back to the common room.

The evening had been extremely uneventful. Harry sighed as he sat down on his bed after changing into his pajamas that night. Just then, he remembered something. The handwriting from potions that came from Malfoy, was the same as the handwriting on the letter he had received. And that is when things fell into place and Harry finally realized… The letter had come from Malfoy.

Author's Note: I'm sorry the updates aren't coming that fast, I'm just so busy and slow. It takes me like an hour to write a medium-sized paragraph, and ugh I'm so busy with homework. I would like to thank Elliot for telling me kind words and supporting me through writing these chapters. Sorry if there are some bad grammar or some misspellings, I'm not perfect. I try to eliminate them all while reviewing after finishing writing, but when I do that it's usually like 1 in the morning, so I miss some.

If needed to get in touch, my inbox is always open for anything and anyone.

Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Harry didn't know what it was about Wednesdays that was so foul to him. Maybe it was that they were his busiest days, or perhaps it was the fact that he had all his least favorite subjects that day. Maybe it was because he was very busy with classes all day, or perhaps it was because he had all the boring and pointless classes that made him want to jump off the astronomy tower or ask someone to avada kedavra him. Harry sighed and got out of bed, it was dark outside, so he assumed he woke up early. He decided to head to the boys' bathroom and take his time washing up. It was cold in the stone building. Harry quickly took off his pajamas and jumped into the warm stream of water he had turned on a few seconds prior. He sighed as the hot water streamed down his tan body. He washed his hair thoroughly, he noticed he had a pale pink strand when it fell in front of his face, he just groaned internally and continued taking his shower. Harry was thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days. He had received a beautiful letter, Malfoy had been more annoying and, Harry didn't want to admit it, but he had been friendlier the past few days. He had helped Harry to answer Snape, and he had helped Harry with the essay. However, just like yesterday, he was stuck in tying how the letter being from Malfoy linked to why he had been friendlier. Harry heard a knock at the door and a "Hurry up, other people need to get ready too," it sounded a lot like Dean, he was usually up first. Harry sighed as he turned off the water, got out of the shower, put on his glasses, and walked out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and holding his clothing. Dean muttered a half-assed "Good morning" and walked into the steamy bathroom as soon as Harry walked out. Harry lughed to himself a little bit as he went back to the dormitories to get ready.

Draco silently walked around the empty, cold halls of Hogwarts. The only noises that could be heard was the sound of his polished shoes on the stone floors, the graceful swooshing of his robes, and his deep breaths. Draco recognized that walking around the halls either late at night or very early in the morning had become a habit. The night after Harry rejected his extended hand of friendship, he had wandered around the gigantic, frightening castle in an attempt to get some solitude to calm down and compose himself. Now it was his 7th and last year at Hogwarts unless the war would cause them to have an 8th year, and he still thought the castle was frightening. Draco sighed and put his hands in his robe pockets, they were getting a bit cold. That's when he realized Harry had taken his compact mirror in potions, he internally groaned, he's have to get it back soon or it would reveal its magic properties. Draco didn't particularly favor Wednesdays, they were rather annoying for some reason. Draco thought about Harry for a moment, he always called him 'Potter' when speaking, but thought about him as Harry, he thought it was a rather strange thing. Draco encountered Nott, but he didn't feel especially needy at the moment so he just nodded and Nott nodded back. He sighed once again and continued his walk, he realized it was already sunrise. The beautiful royal blues and the pantone purples with white and silver specks were being pushed away and replaced by shades of peachy pinks, and goldenrod yellows. Draco loved sunrises more than he loved sunsets, they were just so much more meaningful. He headed back to the dungeons, he needed to help Pansy with her makeup and hair. Draco was surprisingly good at cosmetology.

Harry was ready before Ron was, he didn't exactly know how, but he was. Harry walked down to the common room to wait for Hermione, but she was already there. They muttered "Good morning" to each other in unison. He was angry at himself for not telling either one of his best friends about the whole Malfoy situation and about the note. He sighed, made up a plan, it wasn't exactly brilliant but it would do. He stood up, excused himself, and started towards the dungeons. When he arrived, bag on his shoulder and wand in hand, he spotted a couple of 2nd year just leaving, he asked them to go in. "Why should we let you in? Is it because you're the all-so-mighty Harry Potter? Nope, don't think so," said the shorter one, the boy looked like Dudley in Harry's honest opinion. "I need to speak to Malfoy," he said and then added a frustrated sigh. "Oh, uhm, he lef-" he then yelped as the short one elbowed him in the side, "We don't have to tell you where he is nor allow you in," said the short one crossing his arms, Harry started getting frustrated. "Look you tiny squirt, if you don't either let me in or tell me where in the bloody hell Draco Malfoy is I will make sure you regret being born," Harry said in his most venomous tone he possibly could manage and gave them the harshest glare he could, he could tell the taller one was about to burst out crying and the short one was extremely uncomfortable. "H-he left with h-his friends a w-while ago," stuttered out the taller one, took his friend by the arm and hurried away as fast he could. "God damn it Ludwig, we practiced this, oh no, you're crying again," he heard distant conversation he couldn't distinguish after that but he didn't care that much for it. He just shrugged and started walking towards the great hall, perhaps he would be able to speak to Malfoy ther.

Alas, he had no such luck, Malfoy was engulfed into a tight hug from a squealing Parkinson. Ron and Hermione were somehow already there, he just walked over to them and sat there muttering a 'Good morning' to Ron. Hermione saying that he was becoming distant only added to his nervousness and frustration. Harry ate his breakfast silently, he had a long day ahead of him. Harry heard someone clear their throat behind him and recognized it, it was Malfoy. "Sod off Malfoy, I don't want to see your sneering face this early in the morning," Harry said without turning around, Ron gave him a thumbs up and Hermione just sighed and continues reading her book and drinking pumpkin juice. Harry turned around, and nearly fell from his seat, Malfoy looked like his blood was boiling, he was angry. Harry opened his mouth to say something but closed it, in a manner similar to a fish. "Excuse me, Granger, Weasley, may I borrow your friend Potter for a moment? I need to speak to him about a certain topic," he said and plastered a fake smile on his face. Harry picked up his bag, shot a puzzled look in Ron and Hermione's direction and walked out of the great hall with Malfoy.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, Harry felt a familiar sting on his left cheek, Malfoy had slapped him. "Really? This is as much as you can do," Harry rolled his eyes, he was already extremely frustrated, he didn't need this, "If this is it and you have nothing else, please stop wasting my time I have a lot of things to do today," Harry said trying to sound unamused. Malfoy sighed and his face softened a slight bit. "Could you please not scare Ludwig to the point of tears? He's very sensitive, his parents have recently disappeared and then found dead, they were killed by the dark lord," they made eye contact for a brief moment, "You should know the feeling," Malfoy said, in what sounded like, a sympathetic tone. "Oh," Harry stopped and thought about what he was about to say for a moment, he decided he would ask about it while they had some privacy, "Why did you send me the lette-" he was cut off by the doors of the great hall opening and students flooding out. Malfoy was swept away by a wave of Slytherins, and Harry was now being pestered about what he had been doing with his enemy behind the doors. He just sighed and walked to his first class, he had it with both Malfoy and Ron and Hermione.

Trelawney's voice seemed to be especially irritating and boring today to Draco. Perhaps it was because he couldn't wait to perform the activity they were supposed to be doing today. He was especially curious as to what the cards had to say. Draco had never been exactly too superstitious, nor had he ever believed in predicting the future with leftover tea leaves, cloudy crystal balls, nor cards. He just always thought there was a logical explanation behind everything, for example, tea leaves were randomly shaped, and as they grouped together, the person looking at the cup just imagined an omen or a sign. He also thought that the mist in the crystal balls didn't actually show anything, the person looking into it just saw what they wanted to see. And cards, cards were just random picks and combinations from a certain amount of factors. However, he was willing to believe anything at the moment. He had been on the edge the past few days, ever since he'd sent the letter anyway. Draco sighed as he leaned his head on Pansy's shoulder and listened to Trelawney's annoying and dull voice. All while occasionally looking at Potter.

Harry was starting to become impatient, he just wanted double Divination to be over so he could catch Malfoy after class and talk to him. Harry waited and waited for the stuttering and mumbling mess that was Professor Trelawney to be done talking about the directions and instructions and just get to the activity to pass time faster. He took out a piece of parchment, and started furiously scribbling a note to Malfoy. Soon enough, Trelawney was done and it was time for the actual activity. Harry looked at Ron questioningly, he didn't not have the slightest idea what they were doing today because he had spent his entire time focused on the note instead of paying attention. "Basically, all you have to do is mix the stack, pick out three cards, look them up for what they mean and like, see how they all tie together," Ron explained briefly understanding what Harry had meant. "Right, so, do you want to go first or should I go first?" asked Harry. "Mate this is Divination, no one cares," Ron laughed quietly a little bit at his best friend's stupidity. Harry sighed and just pulled out a random card. It was a card of a man with longish orange hair, he was wearing a black hat and a long black coat, he has standing on a high cliff and was looking into what looked like a big landscape of mountains, he also held a black walking stick, and the card was labeled "The Wanderer". Harry wanted to examine it further for more details, something about it just seemed so eerie. Harry shrugged and tried to focus more on the assignment at hand. Harry picked out another card, it was of a man sitting on a tree. The man was wearing a kings outwit and was wearing a big crown. The tree was a green apple tree and a white dove was sitting on the man's hand hich was extended towards an apple. The card was called "The purity". Harry placed it next to the first card and hesitated to pick his third card. Harry picked a card from the top, the previous two had come from either the bottom or middle of the stack. It was a picture of two candles, onr was in the shame of a man, and the other was in the shape of a woman. The woman's wick was lit and she was just fine,she wasn't melting at all, he was leaning so close to the man that she lit his wick too, and he was melting. The woman was closing her eyes and smiling, the man looked terrified and and upset. The scene in the picture made Harry tense up, this was all so strange, and the card was named "One-sided affection". Everthing was weird to Harry right now, nothing made sense, and he was confused. Harry sighed and opened the book, he flipped to the table of contents and searched for "The Wanderer".

Author's Note: I'm sorry this is extremely short, if I were to write everything that the cards meant and the rest of the divination class, this chapter would be like 5,000 words, yikes. Anyway, I now have a beta, bless your soul Fatima for volunteering to read this garbage and fix all my dumb grammar mistakes and misspellings. I'd also like to thank everyone who has been reading this and leaving reviews!

Also, these aren't based on the actual tarot cards. And, nothing here is random, the two small 2nd year Slytherins will play a big part in this, so will Harry and Draco's friends, etc. every character has a purpose to the story, I have everything planned.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Draco had missed mail day for the past three days because he had either left early, shown up too late, or the post did not arrive for some reason. The thought of his father being angry at him because he did not answer his father's letters made him shiver. His father already was an unpleasant man in the best of his moods. Draco thought of the times his father had been angry at him as a child, the rage, the punishments, the crying alone up in his room. He sighed, and remembered the disappointment in his father's eyes after Draco told him that he had not made friends with Harry Potter. He remembered his father's lecture on how that was an awful thing for the family's name. Draco's mood shifted from relaxed and bored to tense and uncomfortable.

Trelawney had finally finished talking and Draco's eyes flew open. He sat upright, and then attempted to calm down with deep breaths. These sudden panic stricken moments had been coming more often than he wanted them to these days. There was a war coming. His father was pressuring him to become a Death Eater and he had to carry out the plan his father had approved of.

Pansy placed a hand on Draco's shoulder, "You ok?" she asked him and he nodded rather too quickly. Pansy shrugged and picked up the stack of cards looking at it skeptically. "She doesn't _actually_ want us to believe in this crap, does she?" Pansy rolled her eyes and picked out three random cards for which Draco did not care. Pansy wrote down the cards and what they meant until it was Draco's turn. He took the deck of cards from Pansy and shuffled it absent-mindedly, just like he did whenever he and his mother would play cards. Draco closed his eyes for a moment and composed himself. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before. He pulled out a card right from the middle of the deck, it was called "Fear and Confusion". The card showed a man sitting against a wall with his face in his hands. The wall appeared to be a red, brick wall. Draco found it strange, but carried along.

He laid the card on the table and picked out a card from the top, it was a rather pretty card in Draco's opinion. It was of a man sitting on a tree that bore green apples. A white dove was sat on his arm as he extended it towards a fruit. The man had brown hair and a face that held a soft expression. The man also had a big, golden crown, and a king's cape. Draco laid the card next to his first. The card was called "The Purity". Draco took his last card from the very bottom of the deck. He dreaded to know the description of the card, and he felt a rather unsettling feeling to it. It was of a man with orange hair and pitch black clothing standing on a high cliff looking over a mountainous landscape. The card was appealing but in a strange way. It was called "The Wanderer". Draco put down the deck and looked at his three cards. He took out a piece of parchment, his ink well and a quill and then opened his Divination book. He flipped to the page where "Fear and Confusion" stood on top of the page on the left, on the right page stood an enlarged picture of the card.

" _The receiver of this card will face fear of losing someone due to a mistake they will commit. The receiver will also be proclaimed with disagreeable news. This news will cause confusion of what went wrong in the act they committed. The wall symbolizes the fear stopping you from doing things that are need to be done to move forward in life. The wall is a symbol of all the lies stopping a man from learning the truth. The wall is everything negative stopping the receiver of this card from doing what is needed to get to the other, positive side._

 _The man in this card is the confusion. The man is conflicted whether he can get up and break the wall or he can continue sitting against it and never conquer the fears and negative effects stopping him from doing what he wants. The receiver of this card has doubts about an action that needs to be done. The receiver of this card is also confused about something internal, a feeling, perhaps emotion, or whether or not they're sick._

 _Since this card is of the "Dark" category, the receiver will face an unpleasant time in the near future for a while. Cards like this under the dark category mean that the receiver will experience negative emotions and mixed feelings about something or someone._

 _Read more about the dark cards category on Page 789…"_

Draco didn't bother reading further. He furrowed his eyebrows and picked up his quill, and began summarizing what he had just read while writing it down. Next he searched for "The Purity". Draco found it in the table of contents, and flipped to the page. Draco glanced over to Potter's table where he was sitting with Weasley. He noticed the boy had also gotten The Wanderer and The Purity. Draco also noticed that The Purity was his second card, exactly like Draco's. The Wanderer however, came first, and Draco could not see the third card. He shrugged and read the definition for the card that was currently his task at hand.

" _The receiver of this card will hear good news soon. Keep your chin up because things shall look up in a little while. The receiver of the card is the king, powerful. The receiver of the card has power over the situation. The receiver knows what they're doing and they're in charge for as long as this card's meaning will last. The tree bears fruit of success and happiness for the receiver who will soon receive fortune and a jackpot of their desires. The apples bear what the receiver wants or needs, be it happiness, love, luck, or other desired emotions or feelings. The dove purifies the meaning. The receiver shall not be greedy nor avaricious. The dove balances what the receiver needs and what the receiver wants. Therefore, not all the needs are satisfied, thus the receiver will be given things that they require and not desire._

 _Since this card is an "Amorous" and "Pure" card, the receiver can only receive positive things upon picking this card. Cards like this that are under the "Pure" category, mean that this card is a good one to receive and its meanings and intentions are purified. There is no hidden evil behind the luck of receiving this card. This card is classified under "Amorous" as well since the receiver of his card is usually in need of love._

 _More about this card and about the Amorous and Pure categories…"_

Draco didn't read further again. He glanced at Potter and was so surprised to see that the boy had been looking at him as well, that he almost jumped out of his skin. Potter visibly tensed as soon as he processed that he was caught staring and Draco laughed to himself a little bit but didn't show it. He turned back to his notes and wrote down the meaning of the card, summarized in his own words.

He was never happy with his writing and always wanted to change it so it looked neater and fancier. His hand was starting to hurt from trying to write both, neat and fast at the same time. Draco became more self-conscious about his writing when he began writing letters to his father. His father in return complained about Draco's handwriting rather than answering the letter itself. Therefore, Draco started trying to change his writing every time to be better. Draco finally finished writing everything he needed down and looked up from his paper at Harry.

The boy's head was really close to the table as he scribbled things down fast. The Weasel was also writing stuff down for his three cards, but he was doing it rather lazily. Draco sighed and turned to Pansy, she smirked. "See you've still got your eye on scar-head," she teased him in her irritating tone. He shook his head "Yes I do Pansy, and on the topic of scar-head, I need to talk to you about him after class," Draco mumbled to Pansy and sighed.

The class was dismissed after Trelawney assigned them a 1 meter essay on how their cards tie together, Draco seemed to be getting better at tying things together. The students rushed out and Draco noticed Harry break off from the Weasel and walk towards him. Draco gulped nervously as Harry neared him. He came closer until he was standing in front of Draco. Harry's shoes were apparently very interesting to Draco because he wouldn't look up from them. Harry shoved a piece of parchment at Draco and Draco caught it before it fell. When he looked back up, Harry was gone. Draco didn't care about being late to his next class, it was **Arthmethy**.

He unfolded the note. Harry's scribbles confused Draco for a moment but he was able to read them

" _Malfoy,_

 _Come to the Astronomy tower, tonight, at 12 am._

 _Don't bring anyone. I need to talk to you about something, with privacy."_

He was taken aback for a moment but regained himself and rushed to his class. He spotted Pansy and sat next to her. He was there on time. "Pans Pans Pans, you will never believe what just happened," he continued on to excitedly but calmly, tell Pansy about how Harry gave him a note and wanted to meet him on the Astronomy tower, at night. All the while Pansy just did the classwork and copied down the notes because Draco would have to catch up with the work later that day, apparently.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry this is so short and I am so sorry this is so late. I'm sorry i didn't post last week, ok? I was busy. I have piles of homework every night, and I have so many things to do, I have to work on Commissions and finish them and I need to do so many other things and I just bueh.

On a higher note, the 5th Yuri on ice episode is coming out tomorrow/today (whenever I post the chapter)! I'm so excited aaaahhhh I can't wait for it oh my god. Also, there are apparently people at my school who aren't preppy and basic but are little fandom people like me, bless. But, the problem is that they are all a grade younger than me, which means I don't get to talk to them that much, sigh.

Switching topics, thank you so much! Thanks so much to the people who read this, thank you so much to my friends who read this just because I ask them to, and thank you so much to Fatima! You're such a lovely person and such an amazing beta. You proofread and fix the messes that are my chapters and you are overall awesome as hell, really appreciate you!


End file.
